Bloodstock auctioneer William Inglis wants to help reverse the trend of overseas horses winning most of Australia’s long-distance races by introducing a special staying horse section at its Melbourne premier yearling sale early next year.

In recent years “international raiders” have dominated races such as the Caulfield Cup, including last Saturday’s winner Dunaden from France, which also took out last year’s Melbourne Cup.

Interest in breeding Australian stayers has waned, with many owners hoping to duplicate the success of Melbourne entrepreneurs Gerry Ryan and Kevin Bamford, who travelled overseas and bought French horse Americain, which went on to win the Melbourne Cup in 2010.

The Inglis sales in March would introduce for the first time in Australia a classic staying horse section, Inglis auctioneer Simon Vivian said.

Australia had been renowned in recent years for producing champion horses bred for shorter distances, such as Black Caviar, Mr Vivian said.

He is hoping the industry will shift to having the patience to once again breed stayers.

“We’ve got 600 races over 2000 metres in this country and there is a lot of prize money at stake. There has probably been a bit more of a short-term approach with owners, who only have to wait a couple of years to win something like the Golden Slipper, for example, but we think they should also be turning their attention to the longer races as well.”

Mr Vivian admitted it would take time for the merits of the Blue Riband stayer sales to be able to be judged, but he hoped next year’s Melbourne yearling would have 40 to 50 select stayers available for buyers.

He said there had been interest from the industry so far, which he expected to increase the closer it got to the March sales. Mr Vivian also pointed out that in recent years major breeders such as Darley and Coolmore had brought former English Derby and Kentucky Derby winners to Australia to breed, with mixed success.

“If we still want to have access to these champion gallopers and their elite bloodlines then we need to create a decent marketplace. And it keeps the money here in Australia as well and helps the industry overall,” he said.

Prominent racehorse owner Lloyd Williams believes Australian owners should look closer to their backyard when it comes to buying horses.

“There’s been a lot go to Europe and buy, but I don’t know of many trainers there that will sell horses readily with a lot more wins in them,” he said.

“I think it’s better if you have a mix from overseas as well as places like New Zealand and Australia.”